Walk, Run, or Bike to help our Watertown neighbors, many affected by the pandemic, to meet their basic food, housing, utility, and medical bills. When? Any time between October 2 and October 23, 2021 Where? Any place you like! What do I do? It’s easy! Just follow these steps: Print, fill out, and mail the registration form below, along with your registration fee, or register online at: https://fpwatertown.breezechms.com/form/a70d58 Ask your friends and family members to sponsor you, AND...
Greetings from Parish Committee! What is there to say after Sundays Installation service! What a celebration of our congregation and Rev. Sophia’s shared ministry, it left us speechless. The planning committee did an amazing job, committee on ministry and Will Twombly designed, and Will build, our congregations’ gift to Rev. Sophia, a spectacular new pulpit. The choir and band filled the sanctuary with joyful music and song, our hearts were full. The reception that followed had many...
READING: “The House of Belonging,” by David Whyte I awoke this morning in the gold light turning this way and that thinking for a moment it was one day like any other. But the veil had gone from my darkened heart and I thought it must have been the quiet candlelight that filled my room, it must have been the first easy rhythm with which I breathed myself to sleep, it must have been the prayer I said speaking to the otherness of the night. And I thought this is...
Reading - “Praise the Rain,” by Joy harjo Praise the rain; the seagull dive The curl of plant, the raven talk— Praise the hurt, the house slack The stand of trees, the dignity— Praise the dark, the moon cradle The sky fall, the bear sleep— Praise the mist, the warrior name The earth eclipse, the fired leap— Praise the backwards, upward sky The baby cry, the spirit food— Praise canoe, the fish rush The hole for frog, the upside-down— Praise the day, the cloud cup The mind flat, forget it all—...
We’ve been starting off our church year in September with the theme of Belonging. Along with the ceremonies and intentional moments – celebrating the annual Water Service and thinking about how our building can be more welcoming – we find belonging in our congregation through mundane, everyday acts and tools, like remembering to wear a name tag and greeting new faces. One of the mundane, but important, tools that helps support our connections is the church directory. We use Breeze Church...
A reflection from your minister about Installation Sunday on September 25th Over these past many weeks, I am sure many of you have asked the question, just what is an installation anyways? Typically, an Installation Service takes place within the first year or so of a settlement between a minister and the congregation to which they are called. I was called as your 30th settled minister in May 2021, and my time at First Parish formally began in August of the same year. And now the big day is...
The Installation of Rev. Sophia on Sept. 25 at 10:30 will be a special and important time for our church community. If you are planning to attend the Installation service, whether in person or via Zoom, there are a few things that the installation committee would like to share with you. We are expecting a full house, so know that distancing will be difficult, if not impossible. There will be KN-95 masks available, windows will be open, and we have four air purifiers that will be running. If...
The new church year is upon us and we look forward to spending time together. The Fellowship Committee has agreed that we should try to have one Social Hour per month with food, starting in October. We will call these the "Second Sunday Social Hour" and will be recruiting volunteers to host these events. Please watch for emails on that volunteer opportunity. We will also be recruiting Greeters for Sunday Services - another email to watch for. Here is a list of the fun, social events that are...
Happy fall and welcome back to First Parish! I am looking forward to seeing you at our church in the coming month! In anticipation of the church year, I have a few questions and few answers to share. A foundation to my questions fall into the ideas of themes for the year. The concept of “themes” is still relatively new to me. 1) Rev. Sophia’s overall plan for the year is: Sowing the Seeds. 2) The theme for the month from Soul Matters is: Belonging. 3) If I have a theme for music at...
Greetings Church Family! I pray that you and yours are well and have what you need these days. The start of the church year is upon us, and I feel a holy thrum beginning to reverberate in these walls. Maybe it’s my own excitement, but I sense these walls also await your arrival with anticipation and joy! This newsletter is a full one. Please take the time to read each section as they all contain important information, updates and asks that your staff and lay leaders have worked hard to...